Autumn is really here when the Virginia creeper starts to blush. Whole streets of houses become rosy-cheeked in the sharp air and fading light.

Grow a Virginia creeper up your house and you’re striking a Faustian pact: this isn’t a plant you can leave to its own devices. Sure, it will scramble up the walls very happily. In a few years, it will have firmly staked its claim on your property. But give it s few more years and you’ll be held in its grip entirely. You’ll need to clear the vines from your guttering, and trim them from around your windows to avoid disappearing, Sleeping Beauty-like, into a tangle of leaves and stems.

But why wouldn’t you sign your life away to a plant this beautiful? After all, you get leaves that glow a warm paprika like this:

There are two common varieties of Virginia creeper: Parthenocissus quinquefolia (above), which, as the name suggests, has five lobes to its leaves, and Parthenocissus tricuspidata (below), which has three lobes on each leaf:

I flit between these two species, never quite sure which one to stick with. If I had an enormous wall, I’d grow both, as P.quinquefolia has brighter colours when the leaves turn, and brings those colours a couple of weeks earlier than P. tricuspidatai, which spreads a richer, deeper colour. But really, they’re both marvellous, and plants to love, and love, and love, until they’ve taken over your house.

Vital statsLocation:
Not fussy.Light:
Sun/light shadeWhen to plant:
SpringWhat can I expect from this plant?Height/spread:
20 metres

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